How Leaked Government Document Nailed Hadiza Bala Usman’s Tenure As MD, NPA
BY AMOS DUNIA, ABUJA – Leaked government documents have further exposed how the suspended Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms. Hadiza Bala, thwarted the efforts of the Federal Government to boost its generated and accrued revenue.
One of the documents showed that under the watch of Hadiza Bala Usman, who rose to prominence through her Civil Organisation’s activism, used her position to deny the government that appointed her from getting its due revenue by refusing to remit what was expected of the Nigerian Ports Authority to remit to the Federation Account.
One the leaked official documents is a memo by the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, dated March 4, 2021, in which he drew the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari to the records submitted by the Budget Office of the Federation, stating that the yearly remittances of operating surpluses by the Nigerian Ports Authority from 2016 to 2020 were far below expectations.
Amaechi pointedly told the President in the memo that the period under review has been grossly short of the amount due for actual remittance.
The Minister therefore suggested to the President that the financial account of the activities of the Nigerian Ports Authority be investigated for the period 2016 to 2020 in order to ascertain the true financial position and outstanding unremitted balance of one hundred and sixty five billion, three hundred and twenty million, nine hundred and sixty two thousand, six hundred and seven Naira only (N165, 320, 962,697) only.
The President on March 17, 2021 approved that the account and remittances of the NPA be audited to account for the gross shortfall of reitted public funds.
Bala was sent home on Thursday, though other reports suggest she was not given an opportunity to defend herself before she was suspended.
It was gathered that Hadiza Bala Usman was high handed in her administration of the NPA, thus would hardly take advice from the directors of the agency, who later withdrew into their shelves and allowed her to run the organisation as she deemed fit.
Forefront News further gathered that the supporters of the suspended Managing Director of the NPA tried to move ahead of the Minister when they got wind of the leaked memo and approval of the President for her tenure to be probed but it came too late in the day.
Hadiza’s supporters, it was alleged organized to get her supervisory minister in trouble by sponsoring some audio recordings to indicate that the former governor of Rivers State alleged that the President Buhari-led administration has been engaged in printing money without the required production thereby weakening the Naira.
The Minister quickly countered the sponsored social media campaign of calumny against him and knew that the time to act and fast too was due.
However, Hadiza Bala Usman, who is not known to easily quit from a battle, is believed to be strategizing on her next move as stakeholders and other observers noted that she will certainly push back to defend herself soon.
The Presidency on Thursday announced the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari for the suspension of Hadiza Bala Usman as the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority and her replacement with the NPA’s Director of Finance, Mr. Mohammed Koko, in acting capacity.
